In the three centuries after the ascension of Jesus Christ, Christians increased in number, eventually flourishing and coming to dominate the whole of the Roman world and beyond. Similarly, in the centuries following Mohammad’s death, Islam flourished and spread from Arabia across the whole of North Africa into Al-Andalus (Muslim Spain), up through the Levant into Byzantine lands, across Mesopotamia and into India. Christianity and Islam developed quite differently, even as they began quite differently. This article offers a bird’s-eye view of the growing dominion of these two faiths. Continue reading

Concern is mounting among evangelicals that Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s policy arm, could lose his job following months of backlash over his critiques of President Trump and religious leaders who publicly supported the Republican candidate. Any such move could be explosive for the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, which has been divided over politics, theology and, perhaps most starkly, race.Sarah Pulliam Bailey

When people hear, “Head for the hills,” they think, you know, to light out for the mountains and build a compound and sit there and wait for the end. I don’t think we’re called to that. I know I’m not called to that; most people aren’t called to that…. It means as lay Christians, we have to build some kind of walls to separate ourselves from the world so that we can continue to go out into the world and minister to people and be who Christ asked us to be.Rod Dreher

My hope for this post is a cursory examination of the lives of two tremendous leaders in world history: Jesus and Mohammad. Both of these men are revered as prophets. As a Christian minister, I have a great deal of training and study in Christianity, so my knowledge of Jesus’ life is more extensive. I have tried, however, (as I always try) to be fair and honest in my scholarship (such as it is). I hope this brief comparison is enlightening and edifying. I hope soon to add a second part to this article comparing the spread of both Christianity and Islam. Continue reading

Coral and Creation Science – This isn’t as polemic as some of the stuff Sheologians puts out, but I just really enjoyed it as a fairly rambling and compelling exploration of some of the rebuttals creation science makes to the mainstream scientific establishment. I think we tend to have the attitude that scientists have a fundamentally different type of knowledge than the rest of us. The reality, however, is that scientists are every inch as susceptible to the pressures of their own worldview and, frequently, are even more blind to the effect those pressures have on their perception of the facts. Continue reading

When Presbyterians and Baptists and free church evangelicals start attending Ash Wednesday services and observing Lent, one can only conclude that they have either been poorly instructed in the theology or the history of their own traditions, or that they have no theology and history. Or maybe they are simply exhibiting the attitude of the world around: They consume the bits and pieces which catch their attention in any tradition they find appealing, while eschewing the broader structure, demands and discipline which belonging to an historically rooted confessional community requires. Indeed, it is ironic that a season designed for self-denial is so often a symbol of this present age’s ingrained consumerism.Carl Trueman